THE BILLIONAIRE’S DEAF DAUGHTER WAS HUMILIATED AT HER OWN GALA—UNTIL A SINGLE DAD EX-SEAL MAFIA KING FOUND THE SECRET IN HER EAR, CLAIMED THEM BOTH, AND VOWED TO DESTROY THE FAMILY THAT STOLE HER VOICE

By nine o'clock the next morning, the news of Chester Aldrich's "sudden disappearance" from the charity gala had hit the financial news networks. Whitmore Dynamics stock dropped five percent in pre-market trading as rumors of internal board instability spread through Wall Street.

Inside the briefing room of the Drake estate, Jaxson stood before a digital map of the Whitmore Dynamics headquarters in downtown Chicago.

Leo Vance and six elite team leaders stood in attention around the table. Vanessa sat at the head, dressed in a sharp black pant-suit, her dark hair pulled back into a sleek, professional ponytail.

"Chester is currently being held at our safehouse in the docks," Leo reported to Jaxson. "He broke after three hours. He gave us the access codes to Vanguard Armaments' private server housed on the forty-fifth floor of Whitmore Tower."

"The emergency board meeting is scheduled for eleven AM," Vanessa said, her tone cold and decisive. "Vice Chairman Richard Sterling is calling for a vote to declare me unfit as CEO, citing 'family stress' regarding my daughter's condition."

Jaxson smiled faintly. "They think you're cowering in your penthouse, weeping over your child."

"Let them think that," Vanessa said, leaning forward. "How do we get into the server room without triggering Vanguard's internal security lockdown?"

Jaxson pulled up a schematic of the building's ventilation and elevator shafts. "Vanguard operates an independent security grid inside the top three floors. Their guards carry automatic weapons licensed through a private security loophole. If we breach through the front doors, they'll wipe the servers before we reach the corridor."

"So we don't go through the front doors," Jaxson continued, pointing to the roof helipad. "Leo and I will insert via high-altitude stealth transport at 10:45 AM. We breach the server vault from the elevator shaft above."

"And me?" Vanessa asked.

Jaxson looked at her, his expression softening just a fraction. "You walk into that boardroom at 11:00 AM sharp, wearing your mother's diamond necklace and your father's signet ring. You look Richard Sterling in the eye, and you drag out the vote for exactly seven minutes."

"Why seven minutes?"

"Because," Jaxson said, leaning over the table, his gray eyes locking into hers, "that's how long it will take me to execute Vanguard's security team and download thirty gigabytes of treason charges directly onto the boardroom presentation screen."